Second College Prep Program Graduates

Ke Kukui Mohala Class of 2014 Graduates (back to front): Ambrosialynn Casil-Dudoit, Taylor Tamanaha, Paul Parker, Kaycie Kahalewai, Kayla Galam, Karlee Galam, Heather Place, Caylee Ledesma, Shella Marie Keahi, Markes DeMello, Rizpah Torres-Umi and Luke Santiago. (Not included in photo: Teyani Domingo, Alika Kaahanui, Waipuna Kelly-Paleka, David Rapanot, Likeke Schonely, Brayden Willing-McCutcheon) Photo courtesy UHMCM.

UHMCM News Release

Planning and preparing to attend college after high school can be challenging; however, there are very clear rewards for students who plan early and work hard towards achieving their goals while still in high school.   It also takes a great amount of support from the ohana to help these students along the way.  To prepare Molokai families for the transition to college, UH Maui College, Molokai (UHMCM), the Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center and the Educational Opportunity Center partnered up again to offer a second year of Ke Kukui Mohala.

The program included one workshop per month for students and their parents that focused on different college and career readiness topics.  Participants were also given the opportunity to travel to Oahu to attend the Hawaii Career and College Fair and various campus tours.

The families who completed the program earned practical skills and knowledge and were confident in making the transition to college.  One student commented, “It gave me motivation and a hope for my future.  It helped me overcome a lot of challenges as well as helped me more than any other program I was enrolled with.”

A parent participant added, “I can’t say enough about how awesome this has been for both my child and myself as a parent. It has been important for us to do this journey of learning and exploration together. Not sure if we would have gotten this far without the program.”

The program coordinators would like to once again congratulate all our ohana who committed to the program and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.  The program will be taking applications for the third cohort of seniors who will be graduating with the Class of 2015.  If you are interested in learning more about the opportunity, please contact Honey Girl English at 553-5369, Nahiwa Naki at 553-4490 x4, or Kelley Dudoit at 553-4490 x2.